Such a sensor device is known. It is used, for example, in or on vehicles for measuring the distance between the vehicle and objects outside the vehicle, e.g., other vehicles in the surroundings of the vehicle. To do so, an electrode is mounted on the vehicle, forming a capacitive system together with the object (as the counterelectrode). The capacitance of this system is ascertained and used to determine the distance between the sensor device and/or the vehicle and the object. The dielectric constant of the material situated between the electrode and the object—essentially air in this case—is taken into account among other things. With such a system, its capacitance is influenced by the great difference between the dielectric constants of water and air and is thus greatly influenced by weather conditions, e.g., fluctuating atmospheric humidity or temperature fluctuations.